


A Change of Heart

by demoncow97



Category: Shall We Date?: Obey Me!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Belphie is a petty bitch, Confessions, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, M/M, Rare Pairings, Somewhat, diavolo is a sweetie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:20:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 8,188
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26684296
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/demoncow97/pseuds/demoncow97
Summary: Shuffling to the seat furthest from Diavolo, Belphegor slouched in the chair, clutching tightly onto the pillow in his arms. They sat in silence for a couple moments, Belphegor unsure of what he was supposed to be doing but too stubborn to ask. If he had to suffer here with his least favourite person, then of course he was going to bring Diavolo down with him.-Or-As punishment for his attempted attack on humanity, Belphegor is stuck working with the one demon he hates more than anything.He does still hate Diavolo, right?
Relationships: Belphegor/Diavolo (Shall We Date?: Obey Me!)
Comments: 10
Kudos: 71





	A Change of Heart

Belphegor hated Diavolo.

This was a fact Belphegor took no effort in hiding, and one that everyone around him knew quite well. The entire time he spent locked in that attic, Belphegor’s hatred for the demon grew more and more every day. Even now that he was free, and a number of hidden truths had been revealed, Belphegor’s feelings remained unchanged toward the prince of the Devildom.

Well, he said free, but that wasn’t quite true yet.

Apparently attempting to mass murder the human race after killing Lilith’s descendant (it’s fine, they’re back and they’re alive), warranted a punishment of some kind.

Initially, Belphegor was just happy he wasn’t being executed or imprisoned again. That was, until he found out what the punishment was.

Learning he was to accompany and assist Diavolo after class _every day_ doing who knows what, Belphegor was about ready to stab someone all over again.

He regretted his actions, he really did, so this was just unnecessary and cruel punishment.

Standing in front of the student council room’s door for far too long, Belphegor hovered his hand over the doorknob in dread. He sighed, fighting back a yawn. It was the first day of his punishment, and Belphegor was already exhausted just thinking about it. With a breath, Belphegor squeezed the doorknob. The sooner he got this over with, the sooner he could go home and sleep.

With an agonizingly slow motion, Belphegor opened the door.

“Belphegor! You made it,” a cheerful voice called out to him.

Belphegor glared across the room to where Diavolo sat at his desk, a stupid smile on his face.

“Not like I had a choice,” Belphegor muttered to himself.

Shuffling to the seat furthest from Diavolo, Belphegor slouched in the chair, clutching tightly onto the pillow in his arms. They sat in silence for a couple moments, Belphegor unsure of what he was supposed to be doing but too stubborn to ask. If he had to suffer here with his least favourite person, then of course he was going to bring Diavolo down with him.

After a minute or two, Belphegor heard a chair being pushed back on the other side of the room and footsteps making their way toward him. He waited until the footsteps stopped to look up and face the still smiling face of the Devildom’s prince. Belphegor shot an annoyed glare his way, to which Diavolo didn’t so much as flinch.

“How are you doing today Belphegor?” Diavolo asked, ignoring the murderous eyes pointed his way. “Classes were fun I hope?”

Pushing himself away from the desk, Belphegor got to his feet. While still much shorter than the looming figure of Diavolo, Belphegor wasn’t going to sit while the demon before him put on his happy-go-lucky act.

“Let’s get things straight,” Belphegor started, not one to mince words. “I’m not here to chat with you, I’m here for the mandatory punishment _you’ve_ given me. So give me the work and I’ll do it, otherwise go back to your side of the room.”

Diavolo looked neither surprised nor angered by the blunt words, but his smile had saddened somewhat.

“Of course, I should have known better,” Diavolo said apologetically, grabbing a binder he’d had tucked under his arm, and placing it in front of Belphegor. “These are the documents I will be having you look over and assist with. Once you have finished with them, you’ll be done.”

Belphegor’s eyebrows shot up at the size of the binder. There had to be over a hundred pages in there!

“How do you expect me to finish all of this?” Belphegor asked incredulously.

“Oh, I don’t expect you to finish today. I meant when you’ve finished with all of these, your punishment will be done,” Diavolo explained.

Considering Belphegor had assumed he’d be trapped here the rest of the school year, this seemed a better alternative. A week or so at home and he could easily—

“However,” Diavolo interrupted Belphegor’s thoughts. “I’m afraid I can’t have you taking these documents outside the student council room, so you’ll have to return the binder to me whenever you’re done for the day.”

Well there goes that plan.

Belphegor snatched the binder without a word, sitting back down in his chair. Flipping open to the first page, a list of different school events was written with extra space beside each item. While Belphegor would much prefer to sleep than to help budget a school festival, the sooner he could get this done the better. As much as he was a procrastinator at heart, with the right incentive even the avatar of sloth could get his ass in gear.

Diavolo hovered for a moment, despite being completely ignored.

“Thank you for your hard work,” Diavolo finally said before making his way back to the other side of the room.

Belphegor didn’t dignify him with a response.

In fact, he didn’t plan to talk to Diavolo anymore if he could help it.

It would just be a waste of energy.

***

“Welcome back,” Diavolo greeted enthusiastically despite yesterday’s tension.

Belphegor didn’t respond, beelining to the table he’d sat at yesterday. The binder was already there waiting for him, the work exactly where he’d left it the day before. He’d completed the first few pages of budgeting and scheduling already, writing small notes where he disagreed with the ideas.

Since arriving in the Devildom, Belphegor had witnessed the prince’s chaotic ideas firsthand. Diavolo hosted plenty of parties and banquets where drama got stirred up solely for his amusement. Some of the current event ideas had the same levels of impracticality to them, so Belphegor couldn’t help but write down alternatives. Belphegor was all for chaos, but not the brand of idiocy Diavolo created.

A school-wide full contact capture the flag game was only going to terrify the majority of the student body.

(Although Belphegor had to force himself not to smile at the thought of Lucifer’s face during such an event)

“Awww I liked the capture the flag idea,” Diavolo whined, appearing suddenly behind Belphegor’s shoulder.

Belphegor startled, but quickly composed himself. Then, while staring directly at Diavolo, Belphegor crossed a large line through the aforementioned terrible idea. Diavolo had the nerve to pout at him, which only annoyed Belphegor more.

In fact, everything about Diavolo enraged him. Belphegor’s personal grudge aside, there wasn’t a single tolerable thing about Diavolo that he could think of.

Turning back to his work, Belphegor did his best to continue ignoring the person behind him.

“Ah, I should get back to work too I suppose,” Diavolo said.

Belphegor counted the footsteps until he heard the slight screech of a chair being pulled out.

The sound of pencils scribbling filled the room again, allowing Belphegor to concentrate once more on the task at hand. He stifled a yawn, feeling the effect of missing his after-school nap not one, but two days in a row.

It didn’t help that the next page Belphegor turned to was titled, _Revised Student Handbook Overview._

That would put anyone to sleep.

But still, Belphegor took the cap off his red pen and began marking off any sections he read that were unclear, or parts that were repeated too many times. He wasn’t going to risk doing a poor job and having to re-do all this work.

The sooner this was done and gone the better.

***

It’d been a week since Belphegor’s punishment began, meaning a week of silent work (aside from the weekend which Belphegor luckily had off), or at least silent on his part. Yes, Belphegor was petty enough to keep silent for a week, in fact the only draining part about it was the fact that Diavolo had not been discouraged in the least.

Diavolo would discuss his own day or talk about the paperwork he was going through or tell some story about Lucifer, completely unaffected by the utter silence he’d get in return. Even glares from Belphegor, while not quite at his eldest brother’s level but still able to quickly shut up an annoying Mammon, didn’t even make Diavolo pause.

But aside from his failures to get Diavolo to shut up, his punishment… wasn’t so bad.

The paperwork was boring and tedious, but it also held a certain weight to it. These decisions affected the entire school, and yet Belphegor, someone who’d been locked in isolation for the last year, was playing major role in them.

It also didn’t hurt to be able to work things in his favour somewhat. No, the newspaper club did not deserve more money for more school polls, but yes, the cafeteria should expand so Beel didn’t have to bring extra food from home all the time.

“I think a more concrete tutoring plan might be beneficial,” Diavolo spoke from the other side of the room. “Extra credit could be offered to those who volunteer their services.”

Belphegor said nothing, continuing his own work.

“But how to get struggling students to ask for help…” Diavolo continued, pausing to think.

Very discreetly, Belphegor glanced to where Diavolo was seated. The demon was holding a blood red pen to his chin, forehead scrunched in thought.

As much as Belphegor loathed to admit it, and despite his preconceptions, Diavolo was a hard worker. His attitude toward most things was playful and silly, being serious only on the rare occasion, but here Diavolo worked without rest. He was here before Belphegor arrived, and stayed after Belphegor left.

Belphegor himself was not big on putting in extra work when it was something that didn’t matter to him, but Diavolo seemed to put his all into everything. He put just as much effort into organizing school wide parties as he did administrative staff goals. It had shocked Belphegor to a degree, considering the other demon had such an air of nonchalance about him, always looking to have a good time no matter its effect on others.

He wasn’t sure how he felt about it.

“Mandatory tutoring seems a little too harsh, but it may be beneficial in the end,” Diavolo twirled the pen in his hand. “But if it discourages hard working students then it’ll have the opposite effect…”

“Making it mandatory will just scare students away,” Belphegor said as he wrote.

There was a pause as Belphegor realized what he’d just done.

He whipped his head around to see Diavolo’s shocked expression and slightly gaping mouth. If Belphegor wasn’t so mortified at breaking his oath of silence, he would have taken some satisfaction in the reaction he’d gotten out of Diavolo.

Belphegor felt his face heat up in embarrassment.

“I just think students will resort to cheating if they’re faced with mandatory tutoring,” Belphegor justified. “I mean, do you really think Mammon is going to risk himself getting tutored if it’s of no monetary benefit to him?”

Unsure whether the explanation had made things better or not, Belphegor turned back to his work.

“So a reward system for student improvement might be a better solution?”

The question from Diavolo had Belphegor pausing once more.

“I guess,” he muttered, not wanting to look at the other demon.

Not that he needed to look up to picture the stupid smile on Diavolo’s face when he said, “Thanks Belphegor.”

***

There was a small shift in dynamic after that.

Belphegor still adamantly refused to participate in the small talk that Diavolo attempted perpetually, but he had a voice in the actual work discussions.

Whether he’d add a point or two when Diavolo was talking to himself, or outright answer a question from Diavolo, the conversations flowed smoothly. It helped that when the talking was purely business, Belphegor could forget it was Diavolo he was talking to. There was no familiarity there, just two demons working toward a similar goal (even if it was forced on one end.)

Or at least Belphegor told himself this as self-justification.

He pointedly ignored looking at Diavolo when they talked because it just made him angry. He wasn’t sure whether he was more angry about the fact that he was now talking to Diavolo on a daily basis or about Diavolo’s general existence.

Probably both.

On the bright side, being able to actually talk to Diavolo had greatly increased Belphegor’s productivity. Who knew being able to ask questions in clarification instead of rereading the same document over and over would help speed up the work? It also gave Belphegor an excuse to openly mock any mistakes Diavolo had made in his work.

Ah the joys of being a petty bitch.

“You’ve screwed up the club day scheduling all over again,” Belphegor taunted, drawing red circles around the mistakes he found. “And you’re supposed to be the ruler of the whole Devildom?”

Instead of reacting to the insult, Diavolo made his way over to where Belphegor sat. He scanned the page in Belphegor’s hands for a moment before nodding to himself.

“Thank you for noticing, that’s a good catch!” Diavolo commended, to Belphegor’s irritation. “I’ll make sure to fix it right away.”

One of these days, he would find a way to get under Diavolo’s skin. Belphegor didn’t plan to go _too_ far of course, not wanting to risk getting punished all over again. It shouldn’t matter considering Belphegor had no plans to hang around Diavolo after he was done here, but it would be nice to have some ammunition of his own.

“It would be faster if you just got it right the first time,” Belphegor scolded. “I think you just want me stuck here for even longer.”

“Would it shock you that I enjoy your company?”

And yes, that would definitely shock Belphegor.

If he believed Diavolo words.

Belphegor was aware of the disaster he had almost caused in his plan to wipe out humanity, making it very reasonable that Diavolo would despise him as much as Belphegor did Diavolo. The difference was Belphegor didn’t plaster on a stupid smile and play at being friends. Or at least he didn’t anymore, ever since the stunt with the human transfer student. In his defense, he’d been locked in an attic for longer than any reasonable person could stand.

“Whatever you say,” Belphegor said dismissively.

Diavolo chuckled at the response, having expected it.

“Oh, it’s getting rather late,” Diavolo announced. Belphegor wasn’t sure if this was a meaningless statement or an implication that he should leave, so Belphegor chose to ignore him.

“Would you like a tea or anything, Belphie?” Diavolo asked.

Belphegor froze at that.

“What did you just call me?” Belphegor asked slowly, danger clear in his tone.

Diavolo to his credit, caught his mistake immediately.

“Ah, I’d noticed everyone else called you Belphie, so I thought you preferred it,” Diavolo explained.

“Yes, my _family_ and _friends_ call me that,” Belphegor said. “And I don’t remember you being part of that list.”

For a split-second Belphegor thought he saw Diavolo’s smile waver. It was probably just a trick of the light.

“My apologies Belphegor, it won’t happen again,” Diavolo said with a small bow.

Belphegor gritted his teeth at the apology. As much as he wanted to scream at Diavolo for having the nerve to think they were close enough for nicknames, he backed off if only because of the sincerity on Diavolo’s face. He instead clicked his tongue and took a peek at the clock.

Diavolo was right about one thing. It was already much later than Belphegor usually stayed here, which was strange only because he had somehow lost track of time along the way.

Until now, time passed agonizingly slowly, with Belphegor peeking at the clock every few minutes.

Not wanting to overthink it, Belphegor got to his feet. Placing the paperwork he’d been working on back onto the binder rungs, Belphegor stalked over and dropped it on Diavolo’s desk.

“I’m leaving,” Belphegor announced with no attempt to hide his bluntness. “I have more important places to be.”

Diavolo nodded at him. “Of course, I will see you tomorrow then.”

Belphegor left without another word.

***

Belphegor vaguely registered someone calling his name, but pointedly ignored them. It was only when they started shaking his shoulder that he attempted to peel his eyes open.

His vision was blurry with sleep, and he had no idea where he was. Two signs of a great nap. But it only took a moment to recognize his surroundings, as well as the voice calling out to him.

“Hey Belphie, it’s time to head back home,” Beel’s voice reached his ears.

Lifting his head off the pillow it’d been laying on, he recognized that he was indeed in the student council room.

“Man, I can’t believe you got to sleep through the entire meeting Belphie, you’re so lucky!” Mammon whined.

“Yeah Lucifer looked like he was going to explode,” Satan chuckled, nodding approvingly at Belphegor.

“Do you think I can bring my DS next meeting then?” Leviathan asked.

“Absolutely not,” Lucifer answered from where he stood at the room’s entrance. “The fact that Lord Diavolo allowed Belphie to sleep does not mean you can all start slacking on your duties. This was a one-time thing, understood?”

The brothers groaned in sync, most of them making their way out of the room.

Beel waited behind, holding out a hand to help Belphegor to his feet. With a yawn and a quick rub of his eyes, Belphegor accepted the hand.

Feeling a bit confused, Belphegor decided to ask Beel.

“Wait, what happened?”

“Well, you fell asleep at the beginning of the student council meeting. Lucifer was going to wake you up but Lord Diavolo told him we should let you sleep,” Beel explained kindly.

Diavolo had… but why?

“You must be tired from all your extra work recently,” Beel said, a sympathetic look in his eyes. “I wish I could help you out.”

“It’s fine Beel, it’s not that bad,” Belphegor said.

This seemed to ease the worried look on Beel’s face somewhat.

“At least you and Diavolo seem to get along better now,” Beel said with a smile, picking up both his and Belphegor’s school bags.

“We do not!” Belphegor denied.

Beel looked a little surprised at that, but just shrugged.

“Oh, I just thought you hadn’t been as frustrated after your punishment work lately,” Beel said. “You seem a bit happier these days.”

Belphegor gaped at his twin, but followed him out of the room all the same.

“Well I still hate him,” Belphegor concluded, not needing Beel to have any misconceptions.

It didn’t matter if Diavolo let him sleep during meetings or brought creampuffs for him on occasion. It didn’t matter that Diavolo was surprisingly easy to talk to, or that his laugh bothered Belphegor a lot less these days.

Belphegor hated Diavolo, more than anything else. That’s how it’d been since he was brought to the Devildom. Everything was Diavolo’s fault, and so much pain that Belphegor went through could have been avoided if not for Diavolo. Or at least this was what Belphegor had told himself for decades.

He’d learned of Lilith’s true fate only recently, but even so, he couldn’t let go of the feeling that Diavolo could have done more.

If Belphegor still couldn’t forgive himself for what had happened to his sister, how could he forgive Diavolo?

Belphegor hated Diavolo and always would…

Right?

***

It’d been just over a month since his punishment started and the new routine Belphegor had created was somewhat comfortable to him now.

Progress toward the end of the work binder was also going well. Over half of Belphegor’s mandatory work was already done and approved, meaning in just a few more weeks this would be done. Belphegor’s feelings were more mixed now than they had been when he’d started though.

He was finally settled into this new routine, so it would be strange for it to suddenly be over.

Speaking of strange, Belphegor’s relationship with Diavolo had also shifted into some kind of unknown territory. They weren’t friends because Belphegor refused to ever be friends with the demon, but Diavolo’s presence wasn’t something Belphegor dreaded anymore, as hard as it was for him to admit.

The once purely business interactions they’d had border-lined on casual conversation these days. This was of course because Belphegor was too tired to continue ignoring Diavolo’s attempts to talk to him. It was easier to just speak normally, and who was Belphegor to expend extra energy?

So when Diavolo asked how he was, Belphegor would talk about the chaos Levi’s newest game had caused, which would be returned by an embarrassing Lucifer story from Diavolo. It was all surface level, but Belphegor would have to catch himself before letting out a snort or a smile on occasion.

Today, however, was not one of those days.

Entering the student council room today had been the same as any other day. The same greeting from Diavolo, the same binder waiting for him on his desk. But the difference today was what was in the binder.

After sitting down and turning to the newest page, Belphegor was not met with the usual school affairs documents. And as soon as he read the title on the page he was on his feet.

“What the hell is this?!” he demanded, stomping over to Diavolo and shoving the paper in his face.

Diavolo calmly took the page and gave it a quick scan.

“I don’t think I’ve mistitled anything here?” Diavolo said, his voice not mocking like his words might suggest. “It is a little different then the work I’ve had you doing until now though.”

“Don’t play games with me,” Belphegor warned, despite Diavolo’s serious tone.

“I’m not.”

“I’m being serious here Diavolo.”

“As am I.”

Belphegor let out a dark chuckle.

“So what, you expect me to help with your plans to make peace with humanity? _ME,_ the one who was ready to slaughter them all myself?!” Belphegor yelled, halfway between laughing at the irony and choking on his words in confusion. “Is this some sick attempt to mock me or something?”

“Of course not,” Diavolo said. Whether he’d been expecting Belphegor to react negatively or not, he clearly hadn’t expected an explosion like this.

“If it’s not a joke, then why? Last I checked you don’t hire murderers to develop peace treaties! Or is this your way to rehabilitate me into another one of your loyal servants?”

“That is not at all my intention,” Diavolo countered firmly, not flinching at the words spat at him.

Belphegor clenched his fists in frustration, not even having noticed he’d transformed into his demon form. His tail whipped back and worth, knocking over some loose papers on the desk behind him.

“Then why?” Belphegor repeated, the crack barely audible in his words.

Belphegor just couldn’t wrap his head around it. He knew Diavolo cared deeply about building a relationship between the Devildom and the human realm, so why was Belphegor suddenly part of the equation? As many times as Belphegor tried to figure out Diavolo’s logic he just couldn’t.

Had Diavolo been easing him in just to have this remind him why he was being punished? To remind him of his mistakes? It was probably funny to him, seeing Belphegor all riled up.

Belphegor could feel himself shaking where he stood, mind racing a mile a minute.

“Belphegor, can you look at me?” Belphegor vaguely made out Diavolo’s voice. He looked up with teeth clenched, to where Diavolo met his gaze. “Now I want you to listen closely, okay?”

Torn between wanting to hear some sort of explanation and outright stabbing Diavolo right then and there, Belphegor stayed silent.

“This isn’t a joke or whatever kind of taunting you think I’m up to. I would never joke about this project, and I do genuinely want your help with it. You know humans much better than I do, whether you want to remember your time with them or not, which is invaluable if we want to reach an understanding between humans and demons,” Diavolo explained seriously. “You’re incredible, and I think together we could make some amazing progress! And…”

Diavolo paused as if debating whether to keep talking or not.

“…I think you still love humanity as much as I do, even if you don’t think you do.”

Belphegor sucked in a breath.

Love? No, he wouldn’t say he loved humans, not anymore. But neither would he say he still hated them. The situation was too complex for Belphegor to take a strong stance either way. His head was a jumble of mismatched feelings and thoughts.

But even among that mess, Diavolo’s words still pierced through.

The way Diavolo spoke of him, as if he were indispensable rather than just an additional pair of hands. How Diavolo seemed to see just enough of Belphegor’s inner feelings to catch him off guard. These words would usually leave Belphegor wary and on edge, prepared for the punchline to kick in, but for some reason, with those yellow eyes staring so intently at him, Belphegor couldn’t help but accept them.

For the first time, Belphegor had to accept… that he believed in Diavolo’s words.

“I don’t love humans,” Belphegor stated, holding Diavolo’s stare.

Diavolo opened his mouth to speak but Belphegor continued before he could start.

“But… even if I did, no one could care about humans as much as you do.”

At the words, a smile made its way back onto Diavolo’s face, wide enough that the corner of his eyes crinkled. Belphegor was silently glad the smile he’d hated so much was back, if only because Diavolo looked strange without it.

“I look forward to working with you,” Diavolo said, holding out his hand to Belphegor.

Belphegor snorted in turn.

“Are you an idiot or something? I’ve already been working with you for over a month,” Belphegor mocked, grabbing Diavolo’s hand and shaking it. He gave it an extra squeeze, hoping to get Diavolo to wince in pain, but Diavolo only laughed.

And if Belphegor noticed the size of Diavolo’s hand, it was only him sizing up his not-so-new business partner.

***

Belphegor shuffled through the school halls, school bag on one shoulder and familiar pillow tucked under his arm.

It was lunch time, and as much as he wanted nothing more than to find a nice tree outside to sleep under, he’d been scolded for missing lunch the last few days by Satan (AKA the Mother Hen). So he wandered toward the cafeteria where some of his brothers were sure to be waiting for him.

Others (cough Mammon cough) were more likely cutting last period, and had left school early. Belphegor would have gladly joined were it not for his mandatory duties after school.

The halls were packed, creating a stuffy atmosphere that Belphegor distinctly disliked. It was also unbearably noisy, which only grated further on Belphegor’s nerves. He could ignore most of the passersby, but one particular conversation caught his attention.

“God this place is such bullshit, there’s way too much homework,” a demon complained to his friends.

“Yeah, we have to study all day while royalty like Diavolo just sit on their asses.”

“I’d just laze around all day too if I had butlers to do everything for me.”

The three laughed, which bothered Belphegor for some reason, but he continued walking.

“Actually, I’d probably do a better job managing this place than Lord Diavolo does. At least I’d help the students out,” the first said, finally making Belphegor freeze.

He turned around, looking directly past the three demons.

“Hi Lucifer! How’s it going?” Belphegor said loudly, a fake smile on his face.

The three were spinning on their heels in seconds, searching wildly for the one demon who would surely punish them for speaking poorly of the Devildom’s prince. But they were going to be searching for while, since Belphegor had made the whole thing up.

With their backs to Belphegor, he had time to cleanly slice through the bottom of each of their bookbags with the knife he kept stashed in his own bag. The contents of their bags exploded to the floor, startling their owners, who quickly began to yell.

“What the fuck?!” “What happened?” “Who the hell did that?”

But the demons were too busy picking up their things to catch Belphegor before he slipped through the crowd now stepping around the disaster area. He whistled to himself a bit as he left, a grin on his face.

It served them right.

Belphegor paused for a moment.

Did it really? Two months ago Belphegor would have easily said the same thing, and would have encouraged others to do the same.

But just now, he’d felt so angry at the prospect of others mocking Diavolo unfairly. They had no idea how hard Diavolo worked to keep this school, and the Devildom along with it, together in one piece. He actually cared about the demons who lived here, so how could they hate him?

But didn’t Belphegor hate Diavolo?

He shook his head and walked the rest of the way to the cafeteria, where he spotted Beel and Satan sitting together at a table. Beel waved happily, but Belphegor was too caught up in his thoughts to return the greeting.

He slumped down beside Beel and put his head on the table. But before he could close his eyes, he felt something knock into his forehead.

Looking up, Belphegor saw Satan push a plate with a sandwich on it toward his face. With a sigh, Belphegor sat up straight.

“Eat your lunch Belphie, I had to keep Beel from eating it this whole time,” Satan said, taking a sip from his water bottle. Beel was too busy digging into his own lunch to listen.

Belphegor said nothing. He brought the sandwich to his lips, but lowered it before he’d taken a single bite.

“Satan, as the authority on grudges, I have a question for you,” Belphegor said tentatively.

Satan looked quite surprised at this.

“Well I would say you’re already a master at holding grudges yourself, but go ahead.”

“What happens if you want to hate someone, but you don’t think you do anymore?” Belphegor asked, scratching his head at the absurdity of the question.

By all accounts Belphegor should still hate Diavolo, as he’d never planned to forgive the demon. It wasn’t like he _had_ forgiven him… but his actions said something else. Belphegor never got angry on behalf of anyone aside from his family, let alone retaliated.

“One question before I answer yours,” Satan said.

Belphegor nodded.

“You’re not talking about Lucifer, are you?” Satan asked, a dark look in his eyes.

A loud snort escaped Belphegor.

“Of course not.”

Satan breathed a sigh of relief at that, tension leaving his shoulders.

“Good, because I finally gathered the material for the plan we discussed at the last Lucifer Sucks meeting,” Satan said, a cruel smile on his face.

“Perfect, I have high hopes for this one,” Belphegor snickered.

“But in response to your original question, I guess it’s up to you,” Satan shrugged. “I mean, knowing you Belphie, if you really wanted to keep hating them, I’m sure you would.”

He… had a point.

“If you don’t hate them anymore, you must be really good friends!” Beel chimed in, a happy smile on his face.

Belphegor frowned at that, prepared to outright deny any sort of friendly relationship with anyone. But after analyzing his own actions the past few days, he had to accept that he…

…Actually _liked_ Diavolo’s company.

It made Belphegor sick to his stomach, but he’d spent the better part of this week in denial of it.

He liked working with Diavolo and throwing ideas back and forth. He liked chatting about stupid stories that didn’t mean anything. He liked making Diavolo laugh at one of his scathing comments. In fact, this ‘punishment’ had become something Belphegor looked forward to every day.

Admitting this to himself felt like he was finally freed of some invisible chains holding him back. So with this new sense of self acceptance, Belphegor shocked himself with his own words.

“I don’t want to be friends,” Belphegor denied, earning a small frown from Beel and a snort from Satan.

He didn’t say it to save face though. He said it because it was true.

He and Diavolo were already friends. Belphegor knew this to be true, but he didn’t want to be friends with Diavolo like he was with others. He didn’t see Diavolo like he saw the transfer student or any others he considered friends. It was like Diavolo existed within his own category.

He wasn’t sure why though.

***

It took another week for Belphegor to make any progress in completing the puzzle that was his relationship with Diavolo, and the week had felt like an eternity.

Belphegor had spent an obscene amount of time trying to understand his own feelings on the matter. He’d summed up most of his confusion to the fact that switching from outright hating someone with your entire being to suddenly realizing that you’re friends was enough to give anyone whiplash. But it still felt like something was missing.

The day of his epiphany was a relatively boring one. Classes were dull, but no worse than usual. In fact, the whole day seemed to blend in to any other, nothing of interest happening in the least.

That was, until Belphegor stepped into the student council room after school.

Belphegor immediately recognized that something was missing. The cold feeling in the room along with the absence of any greeting or smile to welcome him made it obvious what was wrong.

For the first time in two and a half months, Belphegor had gotten here before Diavolo.

Unsure what to do with himself, Belphegor sat down at a desk. Diavolo had the binder his work was stored in, so it wasn’t like he could do any of that. He decided to pull out his phone and just scroll through Devilgram or something to pass the time, but found he couldn’t concentrate on any of the posts.

Clicking on the Chat, Belphegor hovered his finger over Diavolo’s number, debating whether to text the demon or not. Maybe he could ask Lucifer instead? He should probably just wait, but Belphegor couldn’t help but feel a tad anxious sitting in the much too empty room.

Luckily he didn’t have to think on it for long, as Diavolo stumbled into the room not soon after, pushing the door open at a speed that seemed to surprise even himself.

“Ah, so sorry I’m late Belphegor,” Diavolo apologized, a loose grin on his face. “I had a complaint I had to deal with.”

Diavolo swerved and he made his way toward Belphegor, placing the work binder in front of him.

“Must have been some complaint,” Belphegor commented, referring to the way Diavolo looked dead on his feet.

Dark circles had formed under Diavolo’s eyes, which contrasted against his skin which looked several shades paler than usual. This, along with the way Diavolo dragged his feet instead of the perfect posture he usual held, had him looking absolutely exhausted.

“I suppose they were being quite difficult,” Diavolo admitted with a weak laugh.

Belphegor found he couldn’t look away. Through the many years Belphegor had known him, Diavolo had never looked anything less than the perfect prince. His high energy was something he was known for, and something he could keep up even with next to no rest. So for Belphegor to bare witness to this rare version of Diavolo, he couldn’t help but feel obligated to help.

Without so much as a heads up, Belphegor chucked his pillow at Diavolo’s head. With no reaction time due to his exhaustion, Diavolo was hit square in the face, but at least managed to grab the soft object before it hit the floor. He looked at the pillow in awe and confusion.

“Take a nap,” Belphegor said. “You clearly need to rest.”

Diavolo seemed to still be transfixed by the object in his hands.

“Have you never seen a pillow before?” Belphegor teased, but tone much less harsh than usual.

This finally got Diavolo’s attention.

“Ah, thank you Belphegor, but I still have some important stuff to get done,” Diavolo said. “And besides, I still have plenty of energy.”

The words fell flat when they were followed by a large yawn.

“That’s bullshit and you know it,” Belphegor accused. “If you don’t sleep, I’m going to have to correct even more mistakes tomorrow.”

“But—”

“I’ll wake you up, so just rest before you pass out,” Belphegor cut him off.

Diavolo seemed to contemplate for a moment, but instead of arguing further he placed the pillow gently on his desk.

“Thank you, Belphegor,” Diavolo said softly, quite a few decibels quieter than his usual speaking voice.

Belphegor watched as Diavolo’s eyes closed and waited a couple minutes for his breathing to even out. The demon must have been exhausted. He’d fallen asleep in four minutes flat, which was impressive even to Belphegor, who could sleep within three minutes on command.

Turning his head to the binder in front of him, Belphegor pulled out his latest assignment and got to work. But as much as Belphegor tried to stay focused, he found himself extremely distracted. After every sentence or two he would write, he’d end up peaking up to look at Diavolo.

Finally giving up the pretense of work, Belphegor closed the binder and looked over at the sleeping Diavolo.

Even fully relaxed as he was, Diavolo still managed to look strong. Belphegor’s eyes traced over the demon’s square shoulders down the red jacket that hugged his biceps all the way to his black nails. Then looking up at Diavolo’s face instead, Belphegor couldn’t help but admire the way his red hair fell against his face lightly.

He should probably feel embarrassed by the fact that he was objectively checking Diavolo out in his sleep, but Belphegor was too busy tackling the latest realization that hit him square in the face.

Diavolo was hot.

This wasn’t the shocking part, since everyone knew that Diavolo was handsome. The shocking part was that _Belphegor_ thought he was hot. He looked at Diavolo and realized he wanted to be enveloped by those strong arms.

He knew he was red in the face, though still transfixed by the sleeping Diavolo. It was strange, as Belphegor had seen Diavolo so many times before, but only now with Diavolo, who somehow felt comfortable enough with Belphegor to fall asleep in front of him, did Belphegor take enough time to study the figure before him.

Now alone with the person who had taken up so many of his thoughts lately, Belphegor was starting to piece things together. But Belphegor wasn’t sure he was quite ready to understand why he was feeling this way toward his immortal enemy.

Wait not enemy… to his friend.

Belphegor looked at the clock, noticing he should have woken Diavolo up by now. But instead of doing that, Belphegor used his arms as a pillow on the desk in front of him and closed his eyes. The best way to calm one’s thoughts was to sleep through it.

They didn’t get any work done that day.

***

“Belphegor, I saw the cutest thing today!” Diavolo said excitedly, ushering for Belphegor to come and look at his phone.

Belphegor rolled his eyes, but walked over to take a look anyways. There was a picture of a sleeping hedgehog on the screen. It was pretty cute, Belphegor couldn’t deny.

“I’ve already commissioned a painting of one for the castle,” Diavolo continued, flipping through a few more pictures. “Though I’m thinking of getting the real thing as well.”

“I feel like Barbatos is going to kill you one of these days,” Belphegor deadpanned, eliciting a laugh from Diavolo.

While this wasn’t true, Barbatos and his infinite patience more often than not, dealt with the repercussions of Diavolo’s impulses.

“Barbatos likes animals,” Diavolo explained happily. “And he agreed that the hedgehog was quite cute.”

Belphegor hummed noncommittally in response, flipping the page he was working through.

“Actually, it reminded me of you Belphegor,” Diavolo said out of nowhere.

Belphegor looked up to catch Diavolo’s eyes on him, warm smile still on his face. Belphegor froze momentarily. Was Diavolo calling him… cute? Or maybe it was the prickly outside that created the resemblance.

Either way Belphegor blushed.

“We both know I’m more of a fox,” Belphegor deflected.

“Ah, well foxes are quite cute as well. They’re so mischievous and fluffy,” Diavolo said.

Belphegor stared in disbelief for a moment, but said nothing. He instead brought the paper he was reading up to his face to hide how red it was.

Now that Belphegor was more or less aware that yes, he did in fact have ‘feelings’ for Diavolo, he seemed to be paying more attention to what the other did and said. Not that he would have ever missed that last comment.

It didn’t help that Belphegor was now seated at the same desk as Diavolo, making it much harder to focus on his work in favour of catching glimpses at Diavolo. The concentrated faces he made were very distracting, okay?

After fifteen minutes of on and off work, Diavolo passed a paper his way.

“Belphegor can you double check this for me?” he asked.

“Belphie.”

There was a pause, Diavolo clearly thinking he’d misheard.

“Pardon?” Diavolo looked confused.

“Call me Belphie,” Belphegor clarified, keeping his face as even as possible. ‘Belphegor’ sounded too long on Diavolo’s tongue these days.

“But I thought you said—”

“Well I changed my mind,” Belphegor interrupted.

Diavolo seemed to be trying to read something in Belphegor’s expression, looking inquisitive. But after a moment the questioning look was gone, replaced by the brightest smile Belphegor had ever seen.

“Okay Belphie!” Diavolo chirped happily.

Before he’d noticed, a smile had made its way onto Belphegor’s face as well.

It wasn’t his fault the demon in front of him was an excitable puppy. Belphegor thought he was more of a cat person, but maybe he was being converted.

There was still a voice at the back of his mind screaming that this was all wrong. That Diavolo was the scum of the planet and that Belphegor should not be associating with him, let alone enjoying his company. But it wasn’t too hard to shut that voice out.

At least not anymore.

Maybe liking someone instead of hating them wasn’t that hard after all.

***

Belphegor stared down at the filled-out paper in front of him, hand trembling slightly.

That was it… he was done.

Every single item he’d been assigned was completely finished, every list marked up and every letter written and edited. Three months and three weeks it’d taken to get to this point, showing up almost every day. And it was finally done.

More work had been put into this than Belphegor would ever let anyone know, not wanting to be associated with putting effort into anything. And despite knowing his punishment was over, that there was no more work to be done, and that he could now go home every day and sleep…

…Belphegor didn’t feel happy.

And because of this, he felt even more frustrated. How could he not be ecstatic? No more slave labour? No more boring contracts to read? This was wonderful, and he wasn’t going to miss any of it.

Well, maybe there was one thing…

Diavolo seemed to notice Belphegor had stopped working and looked up at him from the other side of the desk they were sharing. He shot Belphegor a questioning look, before eyeing the paper clutched in Belphegor’s hand.

“Belphie, was that the last one?” Diavolo asked, a smile on his face but a flash of something else in his eyes.

“Uh, yeah,” Belphegor replied dumbly, too caught up in his thoughts to expand on the response.

He looked back down at the report, trying to see if he’d missed anything. But with a quick skim, it was clear he had finished everything.

Slowly lowering the paper, Belphegor tucked it away into the binder, whose rungs were starting to dislodge themselves now from so much use.

Belphegor moved a hand to close the binder, but felt himself freeze.

He wasn’t ready to be done. He wasn’t sure he ever would be.

“Wow Belphie! I’m so happy for you! You worked so hard these past few months,” Diavolo celebrated.

If Belphegor had been looking closer, he would have noticed that Diavolo’s smile didn’t quite meet his eyes.

“I believe congratulations are in order!” Diavolo continued. “You must be excited to finally be able to get away from me.”

Diavolo’s laugh sounded forced, but the words shocked Belphegor more than anything.

“You still think I hate you?” Belphegor questioned seriously.

A perplexed frown replaced the fake smile on Diavolo’s face. He took a moment to analyze Belphegor’s words, as if he were defusing a bomb.

“Well yes… you don’t exactly keep it a secret,” Diavolo answered tentatively.

Belphegor shook his head. How Diavolo was this oblivious was baffling to him. He wouldn’t even say a word to Diavolo in the beginning and now he talked more with Diavolo than almost anyone else. Sure the progression had been slow, and completely accidental on Belphegor’s part, but if you compared how things had changed then anyone could see that Belphegor no longer hated Diavolo.

And if Belphegor’s staring and occasion shoulder bumps had been noticed, his feelings would be pretty easy to pick up on as well.

Belphegor would be frustrated, but the look on Diavolo’s face was too sad to leave like that.

“You’re a complete dumbass,” Belphegor huffed.

Then in one fluid motion Belphegor reached forward across the desk, grabbed Diavolo’s tie in one hand, and crashed their lips together. Diavolo’s lips felt soft, but even after a couple of moments they remained static, unmoving against his own.

Belphegor moved away, opening the eyes he’d been holding closed. Letting the tie slip through his fingers, Belphegor looked into Diavolo’s wide eyes, trying to fight the disappointment that formed in his chest.

It hurt. It hurt way more than Belphegor thought it would.

“Well, I guess I should leave,” Belphegor muttered awkwardly.

However, he didn’t even move a single inch before Diavolo had pushed the large desk between them away with a single hand, and was in Belphegor’s space. Then, placing his hand on the back of Belphegor’s head, Diavolo brought him back in for another kiss.

The ugly emotions in Belphegor’s heart were immediately dissipated, and he responded instantly, wrapping his arms around Diavolo’s neck.

Diavolo’s kiss was needy, with a passion that Belphegor had become oh so familiar with the past few months. Belphegor matched Diavolo’s movements for a while, before letting him take control. The pace Diavolo set wasn’t too fast, but with every move he brought Belphegor in closer, deepening the kiss as much as he could.

Belphegor wasn’t sure how long they kissed for, breaking apart for short breaths only for Belphegor to nibble at Diavolo’s bottom lip to ask for more. Diavolo, ever eager to please, would respond happily, his never-ending energy shining through. Diavolo lightly placed a hand on Belphegor’s chin, tilting it up so their mouths slotted together perfectly.

When Diavolo eventually pulled away, he leaned his face into the junction between Belphegor’s neck and shoulder.

“I feel like I’m dreaming. I was so sure you’d hate me forever, but this last month I couldn’t help but hope that…” Diavolo muttered against Belphegor’s skin. “I’m scared I’m going to let you go and you’ll be gone. It’s all too good to be true.”

“I don’t ever want you to leave,” Diavolo finished.

Belphegor hugged Diavolo even tighter at that, a wide smile on his face. He wasn’t one for sappy words or heartfelt confessions, but he could assure Diavolo of one thing.

“I’m not going anywhere.”

***

“Hey Belphie, where are ya goin’? Supper’s in like twenty minutes,” Mammon called out as Belphegor made his way through the dining room to leave the House of Lamentation.

“Meeting up with Diavolo,” Belphegor answered simply with a shrug.

“Oh, I’d thought you’d finished your punishment last week?” Satan inquired.

“Yeah, I’m all done with that,” Belphegor replied, clarifying nothing.

His brothers stared at him dumbly, questioning looks on all their faces.

Well, all but one.

“Have fun on your date, Belphie!” Beel said happily.

“Thanks Beel, you can have my dinner portion,” Belphegor said, waving goodbye. “See you later.”

He got one good look at the dumbfounded looks on his brothers’ faces, before scurrying out of there as fast as possible.

The screams he heard behind him faded as he got further and further from the house. He wasn’t especially looking forward to getting grilled when he got back, but they were going to find out sooner or later.

He couldn’t even blame them for being shocked.

Everyone knew Belphegor hated Diavolo, or at least that was what everyone thought.

Now the only thing Belphegor hated was how much he liked him.

**Author's Note:**

> When the ship starts out as a joke with your friends but you suddenly become attached and write a long ass fic for them.


End file.
